Most Asian markets advanced Tuesday, with Japanese stocks surging on banks such as Mizuho Financial Group as trading resumed after a holiday, while resource shares such as BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum rocketed in Sydney.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average surged 413.1 points or 5.2% to finish the session at 8,323.9 while the benchmark Hang Seng index closing up 420.6 points or 3.4% at 12,878.
In economic news, the Bank of Japan reported Tuesday that the Corporate Services Price Index declined 1.4% on year in October, recording its biggest decline in five years. On a monthly basis, the index was down 1.2%. The on-year decrease was the biggest fall since a drop of 1.5% registered in July 2003.
Later in the day, the Bank of Japan said in its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments that the increased sluggishness in Japanese economic activity would possibly persist over the next several quarters as the slowdown in overseas economies becomes more evident.
Meanwhile, Japan's supermarket sales, adjusted for the number of stores, declined 1.6% year-over-year in October after falling 2.2% in September, according to data released by the Chain Stores Association. At the same time, the unadjusted sales fell 5.2% compared to a 5.6% decline in the preceding month. On a monthly basis, sales at Japan's supermarket stores fell at a slower pace of 4.7% compared with a 7.1% decrease in September.
Stocks rose across the board, led by financial and real estate stocks.
Among banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group soared 11.5%, Mizuho Financial Group jumped 9.25, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group advanced 2.9%. In the property sector, Sumitomo Realty & Development surged 13.0% and Mitsui Fudosan gained 10.9%.
Exporters benefited from a weaker yen. Canon rose 7.8%, Honda Motor climbed 7.2%, Kyocera gained 6.6%, Advantest added 4.9%, and Toyota Motor advanced 1.6%. Among commodity related stocks, Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings jumped 7.4%, Nippon Mining Holdings advanced 6.2%, Mitsubishi Corp gained 3.2% and Mitsui & Co edged up 0.1%.
Consumer electronics maker Sanyo Electric fell 2.5% on speculation that Panasonic plans to offer a lower price than expected in its takeover bid for the company. The Nikkei financial daily reported Monday that Panasonic will offer 120 yen per share, below stakeholder Goldman Sachs' hopes for at least 250 yen per Sanyo share.
CHINA
The Chinese stock market closed lower for a fourth day, erasing early gains, as investors turned cautious in the absence of fresh policy moves. Most banks finished in negative territory, paring early gains, while some nonferrous metal stocks and coal firms posted gains following a rally in global commodities prices. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 8.4 points or 0.4% at 1,888.7.
In the banking space, Huaxia Bank fell 2.5%, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China closed unchanged, while Bank of Communications added 0.4%. Among commodity-related stocks, China Shenhua Energy added 2.0% after oil prices surged Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Jiangxi Copper gained 1.8% and Zhongjin Gold jumped 2.9%.
China Merchants Property Development lost 4.0% after the brokerage revealed plans to issue up to 450 million new shares to both institutional and individual investors on November 26 for up to 8 billion yuan. China Vanke rose 2.2%.
Haitong Securities tumbled by its 10% daily limit for a third day after some 1.29 billion of its A-shares came out of lockup on Friday.
Airlines remained under pressure. Air China shed 2.3%, following a 9.7% slump on Monday, as fair value losses on its jet fuel hedging contracts stood at about 3.1 billion yuan at the end of October, widening from a loss of about 1 billion yuan at end-September. China Eastern Airlines fell 1.8% and China Southern Airlines dropped 1.8%.
Elsewhere
Taiwan's Taiex closed up 2.6% at 4,266.
Singapore's STI closed up 2.0% at 1,653.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index closed up 1.1% at 1,154.
Malaysia's KLCI closed up 4.8 points at 860.
India's Sensex closed down 2.9% at 8,649.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index added 2.3% to 2,634.88.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 5.8% to 3,564.70.
with files from other wire serices
